HomeMade Pizza files for bankruptcy; owes $11.2 million

Seven months after abruptly closing all of its retail outlets, HomeMade Pizza has filed for bankruptcy, listing assets of $10,000 and liabilities of $11.2 million.

The Chapter 7 petition, filed Dec. 3, would enable the shuttered company to formally liquidate and discharge its debts.

The filing also details the deteriorated financial condition the Chicago-based take-and-bake pizza company was in when it closed its 30-plus stores May 30. At the time of the filing, HomeMade owed 130 creditors slightly more than $11.2 million, the vast majority to investment entities controlled by Matthew Pritzker and Gary Brinson of Chicago, Martin Murch of Ohio, and Gary and Mary West of Evanston. Pritzker's stake was by far the largest, valued at $5.1 million, according to the filing.

Other major creditors include landlords, credit card companies, utilities and suppliers. According to the filing, the company owed:

• Chicago company Logan Denver $368,190.88

• Food-service provider Sysco $138,115.72

• Chicago produce company Testa Produce $64,675.92

• Insurance company Hartford $57,902.24

• Chicago law firm Ice Miller LLP $44,952.62

• Cash-register company NCR $29,485

• Citibank $23,661.69 on a corporate credit card

NOTHING LEFT

HomeMade's only assets at the time of the filing were $10,000 in a business checking account; all of its locations were leased and equipment either had been sold or repossessed, according to the filing.

It paid its CEO, Allan Hickok, a total of $202,233.63 in the year preceding the filing, including $93,900.21 after its stores closed, according to the filing.

Hickok, who took over as CEO in 2011, couldn't be reached for comment. He's currently a restaurant consultant at Boston Consulting Group and was the former CEO of Redstone American Grill in suburban Minneapolis.

He took over for Eric Fosse, who with his brother-in-law Matthew Weinstein, founded the company in 1997 as a “fresh, all-natural, unbaked” alternative to neighborhood pizza parlors and national chains.

Fosse, who left voluntarily in 2011 but still held a small stake in the company, told Crain's the closure of HomeMade and the subsequent bankruptcy “is very unfortunate and very sad.”

“We grew this thing from a seed into something we felt was really great,” said Fosse, who wasn't involved in the company after his departure. “A lot of factors beyond our control brought it to an unpleasant end. I feel bad for the customers and everyone involved with HomeMade Pizza. It was a great product and a great ride.”

BAKE 425 EMERGES

HomeMade grew steadily until 2010, when it raised additional capital from individual investors, including Pritzker, son of Robert Pritzker and one of several heirs of the Pritzker family's Hyatt Hotels fortune. It used the capital infusion to open 15 more stores, growing to as many as 40 locations in Chicago, Minneapolis, Washington and New York. Half of the stores were in the Chicago area, where the company employed more than 200 people.

The company booked revenue of $8.5 million in 2013 and $3.2 million before it shuttered in 2014, according to the filing.

In addition to his first Bake 425 in Highland Park, Borneman has opened restaurants in shuttered HomeMade locations in Winnetka, Evanston, Lake Forest, Glencoe and Lakeview in Chicago.

According to the HomeMade bankruptcy filing, Borneman paid $240,000 for furniture, fixtures, equipment and supplies from 10 HomeMade locations, along with its headquarters.

HomeMade also sold off other assets, netting $272,575 in June and July 2014, according to the filing. It's unclear what became of the proceeds.

At least one former landlord, an entity known as 1647 Wells, won a judgment against HomeMade and garnished $12,262.45 from the company in October. Another Chicago-based company, Logan Denver, won a judgment against HomeMade for $368,190.88. It's unclear if any of that money has been seized. Two other suits are pending.